Supermoon June 23 2013: Gaze up at 'SUPER' Perigee Full Moon [Time, How to watch]

 Wikimedia Commons

A rare and special supermoon, which has been dubbed the 'super' supermoon, will be lighting up the sky this weekend.

The full moon on June 23 will be the biggest for this year, as it will be at its closes point to Earth on Sunday. The moon will also be line dup with the sun perfectly so that the moon will appear to be brighter and bigger than other full moons. Another supermoon like this will not be seen until August 2014 so skygazers should make sure to look up at the sky this weekend.

The full moon is known as a "perigee" full moon, which means that it's orbit is closes to the center of Earth in a month. Full moons do no necessarily happen during a perigee but when it does, it means the sun, earth and moon align.

There will always be full moons but this weekend's full moon is super because it will be closer to the time of perigee, which makes the moon appear brighter and bigger.

The perigee and full moon this month will only be an hour apart. The period where the moon orbits furthest from Earth is called an apogee.

Sunday's full moon means that the moon will be 221,824 miles away from Earth. In an apogee, the moon is 30,000 further away from this point.

NASA scientists say that the supermoon will appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a regular full moon.

The best time to view the 'super' supermoon will be in the nights of June 22 and 23. The moon should be visible as long as the skies are clear.

The moon will be closest to Earth at 7:32 a.m EDT on June 23

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